


Untitled Ficlet

by draca (wyvernwolf)



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: AU, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-08
Updated: 2011-05-08
Packaged: 2017-10-19 02:16:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/195746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyvernwolf/pseuds/draca





	Untitled Ficlet

  
Buffy woke slowly, a hand reaching out automatically but found the space beside her empty. Her eyes popped open and she half sat up before she remembered that Giles was in London.

Letting out a mournful sigh she flopped back onto the bed.

She missed him.

She wished that he would just move to Rome but she didn't dare ask him to. She knew that he felt too responsible for the new Council to ever quit his position as it's head. And she would never presume to leave Rome and move in with him in London. Their relationship was just too new, too fragile for such a huge step.

For now she'd have to make do with the few weekends that he could get away.

But it sucked.

She rolled over and grabbed his pillow -and how much did she love that he had his own pillow- snuggling it close and breathing in the Giles smell that was still lingering, wishing it was the man himself that she was holding.

Curling up, she pulled the covers over herself and still holding his pillow close, resisted the urge to cry.

**

Giles sat at the head of the conference table ostensibly listening to the presentation being made but was really dreaming of long blonde hair and a beautiful smile.

He closed his eyes as he recalled the soft touch of Buffy's hands on his neck and shoulders after he'd spent too much time reading through Council reports and giving himself a stiff and sore neck. A small smile crossed his mouth as he remembered how the massage had swiftly changed into something a lot more charged and how the reports had ended up scattered all over the floor.

“Mr Giles?”

He was jolted from his pleasant daydream by the sound his name and looked up, hiding his inattentiveness by removing his glasses and cleaning them.

“What do you think, Mr. Giles?”

He placed his glasses back on his nose and looked at the eager faces of the very young Watchers arrayed in front of him and resisted the temptation of saying sod it all and leaving for Rome. Instead saying, “I'll have to have some more time to consider them. If you would leave a copy of your notes? And Johnson, it was a very well thought out presentation. Thank you.”

The beaming smile he received with made him feel slightly guilty for his inattention but he was finding it hard to pay attention to anything. He'd left Buffy less than a day ago and he already missed her.

Getting on the plane had been one of the hardest things he'd had to do and he couldn't forget the sight of Buffy waving him off with a forlorn look on her face. He wished it didn't have to be like this but things were too new between them for him to suggest that she move in with him, or he move in with her.

It would make things harder with the New Council but he was certain something could be arranged. He didn't want to take her away from the peace she found in Rome and Dawn had settled in as well, making new friends at the international school she was attending. It would be too much to ask them to give it all up just because he missed Buffy.

The sounds of chairs scraping back, alerted him that the meeting had ended and he got up as well, gathering his papers and waving away anyone who wanted to talk. He had a phone call to make.

**

Buffy was still in bed when the phone rang. She contemplated ignoring it at first but when it persisted she let out an irritated huff before throwing the covers off and reaching for the bedside phone.

“What?” she snapped.

There was a minute of silence before a very familiar chuckle sounded down the phone. “I sincerely hope that isn't the usual way you answer the telephone, Luv.”

Buffy sat bolt upright. “Giles?”

“Hullo, Buffy,” his amusement and affection could be heard clearly in his voice.

“What's wrong? I thought you'd be busy with meetings?”

“I was.”

“Was?”

“I've cancelled them.”

“Huh?”

“I didn't feel it was fair to have the meetings when I wasn't capable of paying them the attention they deserved.”

“Again, I say huh?”

“I have other things on my mind.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“What things?” Buffy said, a small grin coming onto her face. She lay back on the bed, the phone cord wrapped round her hand as she listened to that beloved voice washing over her. If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend that he was lying next to her.

She was so caught up in her daydream that she wasn't paying attention to what he was saying until his last words

“-move in together.”

“What?” she squeaked, nearly dropping the phone.

“Buffy, have you been listening to a word I've been saying?”

“I thought I heard you saying you want us to move in together, but then again I could be wrong seeing as how I wasn't really listening to you-”

At his desk, Giles rolled his eyes at Buffy's rambling. He loved her dearly but sometimes she did try his patience.

“Buffy! Breathe.”

He listened in amusement as she very obviously inhaled and exhaled down the phone a few times before prompting him with an impatient, “Well?”

“I was saying that this situation is deplorable. I find that I am unable to focus fully on matters here at the Council knowing that you're in Rome, alone,” Giles said, a slight tremor in his voice.

“So, you want me to move in with you? Move to London?” Buffy asked slowly, her hand dropping the phone cord to fist in the comforter. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Was she still asleep and dreaming?

“Not necessarily,” returned Giles.

“What does that mean?”

“I wouldn't dream of asking that you leave the home you've made for yourself in Rome. I'm certain that I can arrange something with the Council in order to facilitate my moving to Rome. If that is your preference...” he trailed off, uncertain now in the face of Buffy’s silence that what he had previously thought a good idea was in fact good.

Just when he was about to dismiss his suggestion as being just a vague idea and to put it out of her mind, Buffy spoke again.

“So, you’re saying that you don’t want me to move in with you?” She asked tentatively. “You want to move in with me? You'd give up your house in London and change things at the Council to move here? To Rome? With me?”

“Well, yes. If that is what you want.”

“And what do you want, Giles?” She asked quietly.

“I want to be with you, Buffy. It doesn't matter if we're in London, Rome or Sunnydale. The location counts for nothing. Home is where you are, Buffy. It always has been. I love you and I want to spend my life with you,” he said, equally quietly.

Buffy closed her eyes, tears making their silent way down her cheeks as she listened to Giles' words. She brought a hand up to wipe them away as a smile broke across her face.

“Giles?” She said, her voice hitching slightly.

“Yes, my love?”

“Come home. Come home to me.”

-Fin-  



End file.
